Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Molecular organisation of the malate synthase genes of Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa

  • Published:
Molecular and General Genetics MGG Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

The sequencing and comparison of the genes encoding the glyoxylate bypass enzyme malate synthase of Aspergillus nidulans (acuE) and Neurospora crassa (acu-9) are presented. The predicted amino acid sequences of the A. nidulans and N. crassa enzymes are 538 and 542 residues respectively and the proteins are 87% homologous. In fungi, the malate synthase proteins are located in glyoxysomes and the deduced acuE and acu-9 proteins both contain a C-terminal S-K-L sequence, which has been implicated in transport into peroxisomes. The acuE coding region is interrupted by four introns and the acu-9 coding region is interrupted by one intron which occurs at the same position as the C-terminal acuE intron. The 5′ non-coding regions of the two genes were examined for short homologous sequences that may represent the binding sites for regulatory proteins. Pyrimidine-rich sequences with weak homology to the amdI9 sequence, which has been implicated in facB-mediated acetate regulation of the amdS gene, were found but their functional significance remains to be determined.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Apirion D (1965) The two-way selection of mutants and revertants in respect of acetate utilization and resistance to fluoroacetate in Aspergillus nidulans. Genet Res 6:317–329

    Google Scholar 

  • Armitt S, McCullough W, Roberts CF (1976) Analysis of acetate non-utilizing (acu) mutants in Aspergillus nidulans. J Gen Microbiol 92:263–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballance DJ, Turner G (1986) Gene cloning in Aspergillus nidulans: isolation of the isocitrate lyase gene (acuD). Mol Gen Genet 202:271–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke JF (1984) High-sensitivity S1 mapping with single-stranded (32P) DNA probes synthesized from bacteriophage M13mp9 templates. Gene 30:63–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne C, Stokes HW, Ward KA (1988) Nucleotide sequence of the aceB gene encoding malate synthase A in Escherichia coli. Nucleic Acids Res 16:10924

    Google Scholar 

  • Comai L, Baden CS, Harada JJ (1989) Deduced sequence of a malate synthase polypeptide encoded by a subclass of the gene family. J Biol Chem 264:2778–2782

    Google Scholar 

  • Connerton IF (1990) Premeiotic disruption of the Neurospora crassa malate synthase gene by native and divergent DNAs. Mol Gen Genet 223:319–323

    Google Scholar 

  • Connerton IF, Fincham JRS, Sandeman RA, Hynes MJ (1990) Comparison and cross-species expression of the acetyl-CoA synthetase genes of the ascomycete fungi, Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa. Mol Microbiol 4:451–460

    Google Scholar 

  • Dale RMK, McClure BA, Houchins JP (1985) A rapid single-stranded cloning strategy for producing a sequential series of overlapping clones for use in DNA sequencing: application to sequencing the corn mitochondrial 18s rDNA. Plasmid 13:31–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis MA, Hynes MJ (1987) Complementation of areA − regulatory gene mutations of Aspergillus nidulans by the heterologous regulatory gene nit-2 of Neurospora crassa. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:3753–3757

    Google Scholar 

  • Dayhoff MO, Eck RV, Park CM (1972) A model of evolutionary change in proteins. In: Dayhoff MO (ed) Atlas of protein sequence and structure, vol 5. National Biomedical Research Foundation, Washington DC. pp 89–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Dijkema C, Visser J (1987) 13N-NMR analysis of Aspergillus mutants disturbed in pyruvate metabolism. Biochim Biophys Acta 931:311–319

    Google Scholar 

  • Flavell RB, Fincham JRS (1968) Acetate non-utilizing mutants of Neurospora crassa. I. Mutant isolation, complementation studies and linkage relationships. J Bacteriol 95:1056–1062

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu Y-H, Marzluf GA (1990 a) nit-2, the major nitrogen regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa, encodes a protein with a putative zinc finger DNA-binding domain. Mol Cell Biol 10:1056–1065

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu Y-H, Marzluf GA (1990 b) nit-2, the major positive-acting nitrogen regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa, encodes a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87:5331–5335

    Google Scholar 

  • Geever RF, Huiet L, Baum JA, Tyler BM, Patel VB, Rutledge BJ, Case ME, Giles NH (1989) DNA sequence, organization and regulation of the qa gene cluster of Neurospora crassa. J Mol Biol 207:15–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Keller G-A, Subramini S (1987) Identification of a peroxisomal targeting signal at the carboxy-terminus of firefly luciferase. J Cell Biol 105:2923–2931

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Keller G-A, Subramini S (1988) Identification of peroxisomal targeting signals located at the carboxy-terminus of four peroxisomal proteins. J Cell Biol 107:897–905

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould SJ, Keller G-A, Hosken N, Wilkinson J, Subramini S (1989) A conserved tripeptide sorts proteins to peroxisomes. J Cell Biol 108:1657–1664

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurr SJ, Unkles SE, Kinghorn JR (1988) The structure and organisation of nuclear genes of filamentous fungi. In: Kinghorn JR (ed) Gene structure in eukaryotic microbes, vol 23. SGM Special Publications, IRL Press, Oxford, pp 93–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins AR, Lamb HK, Smith M, Keyte JW, Roberts CF (1988) Molecular organisation of the quinic acid utilization (QUT) gene cluster in Aspergillus nidulans. Mol Gen Genet 214:224–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins AR, Gurr SJ, Montague P, Kinghorn JR (1989) Nucleotide sequence and regulation of expression of the Aspergillus nidulans gdhA gene encoding NADP dependent glutamate dehydrogenase. Mol Gen Genet 218:105–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiatt KL, Case ME (1990) Induced expression of the Aspergillus nidulans QUTE gene introduced by transformation into Neurospora crassa. Mol Gen Genet 222:201–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Hynes MJ (1975) A cis-dominant regulatory mutation affecting enzyme induction in the eukaryote Aspergillus nidulans. Nature 253:210–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Hynes MJ (1977) Induction of the acetamidase of Aspergillus nidulans by acetate metabolism. J Bacteriol 131:770–775

    Google Scholar 

  • Hynes MJ, Davis MA (1986) The amdS gene of Aspergillus nidulans: control by multiple regulation signals. BioEssays 5:123–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Hynes MJ, Corrick CM, Kelly JM, Littlejohn TG (1988) Identification of the sites of action for regulatory genes controlling the amdS gene of Aspergillus nidulans. Mol Cell Biol 8:23589–2596

    Google Scholar 

  • Kornberg HL (1966) The role and control of the glyoxylate cycle in Escherichia coli. Biochem J 99:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Kos T, Kuijvenhoven A, Hessing HGM, Pouwels PH, van den Hondel CAMJJ (1988) Nucleotide sequence of the Aspergillus niger trpC gene: structural relationship with analogous genes of other organisms. Curr Genet 13:137–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Kudla B, Caddick MX, Langdon T, Martinez-Rossi NM, Bennet CF, Sibley S, Davies RW, Arst HN Jr (1990) The regulatory gene areA mediating nitrogen metabolite repression in Aspergillus nidulans. Mutations affecting specificity of gene activation alter a loop residue of a putative zinc finger. EMBO J 9:1355–1364

    Google Scholar 

  • Maxam AM, Gilbert W (1977) A new method for sequencing DNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74:560–564

    Google Scholar 

  • Norrander J, Kempe T, Messing J (1983) Construction of improved M13 vectors using oligodeoxynucleotide-directed mutagenesis. Gene 26:101–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Osumi T, Fujiki Y (1990) Topogenesis of peroxisomal proteins. BioEssays 12:217–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandeman RA, Hynes MJ (1989) Isolation of the facA (acetyl-CoenzymeA synthetase) and acuE (malate synthase) genes of Aspergillus nidulans. Mol Gen Genet 218:87–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanger F, Nicklen S, Coulson AR (1977) DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74:5463–5467

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Selker EU, Garrett PW (1988) DNA sequence duplications trigger gene inactivation in Neurospora crassa. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85:6870–6874

    Google Scholar 

  • Selker EU, Cambareri EB, Jensen BC, Haack KR (1987) Rearrangement of duplicated DNA in specialized cells of Neurospora. Cell 51:741–752

    Google Scholar 

  • Small GM, Szabo LJ, Lazarow PB (1988) Acyl-CoA oxidase contains two targeting sequences each of which can mediate protein import into peroxisomes. EMBO J 7:1167–1173

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith SM, Leaver CJ (1986) Glyoxysomal malate synthase of cucumber: molecular cloning of a cDNA and regulation of enzyme synthesis during germination. Plant Physiol 81:762–767

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas GH, Baxter RL (1987) Analysis of mutational lesions of acetate metabolism in Neurospora crassa by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance. J Bacteriol 169:359–366

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas GH, Connerton IF, Fincham JRS (1988) Molecular cloning, identification and transcriptional analysis of genes involved in acetate utilization in Neurospora crassa. Mol Microbiol 2:599–606

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman R, Neupert W (1980) Biogenesis of glyoxysomes: synthesis and intracellular transfer of isocitrate lyase. Eur J Biochem 112:225–233

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Ruth A. Sandeman

    Present address: School of Agriculture, La Trobe University, 3083, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, University of Melbourne, 3052, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Ruth A. Sandeman & Michael J. Hynes

  2. Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EH, Cambridge, UK

    John R.S. Fincham & Ian F. Connerton

  3. Department of Microbiology, University of Reading, RG1 5AQ, Reading, UK

    Ian F. Connerton

Authors
  1. Ruth A. Sandeman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael J. Hynes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John R.S. Fincham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ian F. Connerton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Communicated by C.A. v. den Hondel

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sandeman, R.A., Hynes, M.J., Fincham, J.R. et al. Molecular organisation of the malate synthase genes of Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa . Molec. Gen. Genet. 228, 445–452 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00260638

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00260638

Key words

Search

Navigation